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Bad customer service?

What are your tales of bad customer service? I went to a Walgreens, and I asked for cashback(Walgreens gives money back if you pay from a debit card), and the cashier had the audacity to ask me why I wanted money back! I was thinking, "None of your effing business!" (I felt extremely uncomfortable and uspet). I didn't say it aloud though, because I am too meek and worry a lot about what people think. I didn't go back to that Walgreens for about two weeks, and the only reason I came back was because that Walgreens was the closest to my house. I did complain about her though to another employee and asked that they tell her not to ask customers why they need money back, because other customers will curse her out or tell her to MHOB.

Disclaimer: Please do not get my well intentioned thread shut down due to Politics or veering way off topic....

This was my experience just this morning. It seems that car dealers just look for ways to tick you off. I've been on the fence about a certain vehicle that we checked out about 3 weeks ago. They finally came up with a price we could live with, so we decided to go ahead and buy it. The ad was still up on autotrader, but it wasn't on the dealers website any longer. If you've visited any dealers websites you probably have noticed the annoying "Live chat" window that keeps popping up. I thought, what the heck, I'll just ask live chat if they still have it. What could be simpler? Here is the transcript.

CHAT TRANSCRIPT:
Anna Harold (05/22/16 12:07:53 pm): How may I help you?
Guest (05/22/16 12:07:53 pm): Is 2015 Explorer FGC 14031 still available?
Anna Harold (05/22/16 12:08:08 pm): I would be happy to assist you with that! One moment please while I look that up for you. Who do I have the pleasure of chatting with today?
Anna Harold (05/22/16 12:09:34 pm): Are you still with me?
Guest (05/22/16 12:09:52 pm): Yes
Anna Harold (05/22/16 12:11:54 pm): where did you see this vehicle?
Guest (05/22/16 12:12:24 pm): Autotrader. Expressway Ford Mt Vernon, IN
Anna Harold (05/22/16 12:13:50 pm): Alright, let me go ahead and request detailed information from my Internet Sales Team on that 2016 Explorer and send it to you for review. Once we can gather those details for you, what's the best phone number and time of day to reach you?
Guest (05/22/16 12:14:47 pm): 2015 explorer. Just need to know if you still have it. Simple as that. FGC 14031
Anna Harold (05/22/16 12:15:22 pm): While I am a part of the online support team, we work from a different building, so I will need to electronically request that information on your behalf. We can certainly email those details to you if you prefer. May I have your email address please?
Anna Harold (05/22/16 12:17:19 pm): Are you still with me?
Guest (05/22/16 12:17:24 pm): This question couldn't be any simpler. This chat system is totally useless. [email protected]
Anna Harold (05/22/16 12:17:51 pm): Great, and just to complete this request may I please have your first and last name and phone number?
Guest (05/22/16 12:19:22 pm): They already have all that info. I have spoken to numerous people there. Just wanted this simple question answered. The car business is worse than politics.
Anna Harold (05/22/16 12:19:32 pm): Come back and see me if you need any additional information or price quote assistance. Thank you for visiting http://expresswayfordonline.com/. Have a nice day

Nah, you hit a call center...none of them are USA based....SOOOOMETIMES I get people in the Southern States (Atlanta seems to be a big hub for them) I'd take a southern drawl' ANYDAY.
If you ask the correct questions, they can be useful..but then again, I could write a computer program to be more useful 99.999% of the time.

EDIT: On the subject of car purchasing..when we bought our '16 Elantra...we just dealt with people via email..lemme tell ya, some were straight DUMB (like DID NOT KNOW how to use a computer) The ONE we bought from, absolutely was GREAT (he was the "internet sales manager" who actually was just promoted to GM of the entire dealership!) It's RARE to get someone who can use a computer, OUTSIDE of the tech industry.

I have logged onto my local toyota site more than once to book a simple maint. appointment. The chat person comes up and I ask if there is a time available on Tuesday morning. The answer? I will check with the service department and get back to you.

Freakin idiots. If you can not help, go away.

UPDATE - just went to site. Same story. They will check and get back to me. Pretty sure I should just call.

I can't recall which store it was but I was shopping with my fiancee at Vegas outlets and the cashier scanned our purchases and asked if I wanted to donate money to a charity of some sort. I politely said "no thanks" and the cashier went ballistic. "What do you mean no? You can't spare a dollar or two? Are you serious". I was like WTF? I still said "no, but thanks for the lecture as well". For what it's worth, I do donate money and clothes often so I'm not a cheap ass but I think it's my decision to make whether or not I feel like doing it.

I can't recall which store it was but I was shopping with my fiancee at Vegas outlets and the cashier scanned our purchases and asked if I wanted to donate money to a charity of some sort. I politely said "no thanks" and the cashier went ballistic. "What do you mean no? You can't spare a dollar or two? Are you serious". I was like WTF? I still said "no, but thanks for the lecture as well". For what it's worth, I do donate money and clothes often so I'm not a cheap ass but I think it's my decision to make whether or not I feel like doing it.

Click to expand...

No need to apologize. Sometimes you don't have the extra buck, sometimes you already supported the campaign, sometimes you don't like the organization they are promoting. Retailers will run contests to get the cashiers involved in getting donations and maybe that inspired her passion. But at the end of the day, if you ask every customer politely, you end up with a decent contribution rate.

My story: I ordered flowers for Mothers Day due to arrive the Friday before through an internet based florist. Fed Ex didn't deliver them. I sent off an email asking them to trace the package and I got an email consisting of cut and paste messages that didn't go together. Saturday came and went and no flowers. I sent another email telling them they had better not deliver dead flowers on Monday to my mother. It took over 24 hours for someone to acknowledge a problem and offer a refund and a discount on my next purchase. It took over 10 days for the refund and the $20 off my next purchase as promised ended up being a percentage discount. Not a good way to win someone back over a screwup.

The Mrs. & I go back and forth on this. Without going down the rabbit hole of employment in 2016, it is my contention that I manage expectations.

As an example: Dinner the other night at one of Tampa's better restaurants. The service was exactly the level I would expect. Just perfect. The next day, I'm at the local Walmart Grocery. The lethargic employee making a half-assed attempt at bagging groceries was failing to such a degree that I did the "here, let me show you something that might help" (e.g. don't hold a bag with one hand and fill with the other as you drag over the scanner, bag cold items together, do not put eggs or bread on the bottom (these are Grocery 101 skills I learned at the ripe old age of fifteen)). It is my contention that, not far removed from 'you get what you pay for', it's Walmart and my expectations for a modicum of professionalism are nonexistent. Now, had this level of service appeared at the restaurant on Saturday night...the fit would have hit the shan.

So...do we manage expectations? Am I wrong to differentiate expectations (to a degree, not blanket forgiveness) between service at Wal[insert store syllables here]. Is the Mrs. right that regardless of how crappy and I-don't-wanna-be-here your job may be, there is an expectation of professionalism (if not the simple ability to bag groceries)? Or is it that your lack of interest in a crappy job gives you the right to put forth a half-assed effort and I should expect nothing more?